Going Nowhere, Part Two: A Quick Mileage Run to San Francisco

The Planning

In early September, the drive to keep up my Delta Diamond status was in full swing.  I was scouring message boards, toying with possible itineraries, and trying to figure out a path to pile on an additional 50,000 flight miles onto my account balance.

During a quick lunchtime glance over at flyertalk.com, I spotted a $170 roundtrip fare from BWI to San Francisco.  I quickly bought three of them and alerted Philip, in case he wanted to join in on any of the trips.  He decided to buy the first and the last run.

For this trip, we would fly out of BWI on a Friday afternoon, connect in Salt Lake, get to San Francisco just before midnight.  We would overnight in Burlingame, which is very near the airport, and fly out at lunchtime Saturday.  Our return flight would be through Minneapolis.  That would put us back into BWI at about eleven at night, so we opted for a hotel near the airport, and to drive home Sunday.

Getting There

The problem with flying out of BWI is BWI:  it is a horrible airport, it is not easy to get to, and the security lines there are often ridiculous.  Because traffic and all of the other logistics are so unpredictable, we have to leave so early:  for our 17:50 flight we left home at 14:00.  By comparison, if we were to have a similarly-timed flight out of National we would leave a full two hours later.

At any rate, Friday afternoon traffic gets thick early, and we encountered about thirty miles of stop-and-go along I-95.  We arrived to the parking garage by about half past three, to the terminal about ten minutes later, and were airside by four o’clock, just under 90 minutes before boarding.

We hung out in the American Express affiliate lounge for a few minutes and then went for food.  At BWI, Delta flies out of Concourse D, where there are only two real options for sit-down food.  We opted for the Green Turtle, which I recommend if you like over-priced beverages and/or over-salt food.

Before long it was time to board.  Looking at the upgrade screen, I was number one with one seat left.  At the last minute my upgrade cleared to Salt Lake City; my upgrade from Salt Lake to San Francisco had cleared almost a week earlier.  For Philip, he was in the back to Salt Lake but upgraded to San Francisco.

The flight to Salt Lake was uneventful and got us in just a few minutes early, so we had a couple of minutes in the SkyClub there.  It was pouring rain in Salt Lake but that did not delay us and we got into San Francisco and to the hotel just fine; exhausted, but fine.

A Few Hours in Burlingame Before the Flight

Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hotel, packed our things, and then, with an hour before we needed to go to the airport, decided to take a walk along the Bay Shore.  The weather was perfect and it was a really nice break.

Plane on final approach into SFO

Looking out across San Francisco Bay

Lagoon shot, near the hotel

Geese, taking flight

Flying Back East

Before we left for the airport TripIt was telling me that our flight was delayed, due to a mechanical.  With a 75-minute connection in Minneapolis, I was a bit concerned so I phoned Delta.  I felt reassured, as our inbound aircraft had left MSP and it seemed likely that the delay would be minimal.

The airport was very quiet Saturday morning and, after a quick visit to the SkyClub (it’s landside at SFO), we breezed through security and found our gate.  Looking at the upgrade list, I saw that I was number two, with just one seat:  certainly I would not clear.  So, we got some sandwiches for the flight and boarded.

Our flight landed with about 45 minutes to spare, so we headed directly to the connecting gate, which was all the way across the airport (of course).  My upgrade for this leg had already cleared, and Philip’s cleared just as we boarded.  Nice.

We landed at BWI, found the shuttle stop, and were soon at the BWI Hilton.  Another long day, but productive:  we each earned almost 5000 qualifying miles and I earned over 11,000 flight miles.

Our hotel at BWI

View from our room:  planes landing into BWI

An Afternoon in Baltimore

Sunday morning we had a nice breakfast in the hotel, shuttled over to the car, and headed into the city for a quick look at the art museum there.  There was a Baltimore Ravens game in town that afternoon and the city was a total zoo and basically a sea of purple jerseys.

On the way to the art museum we stopped by Federal Hill to have a look out over the city.

View from Federal Hill, across the Inner Harbor, of Downtown Baltimore

View from Federal Hill, across the Inner Harbor, of Downtown Baltimore

View from Federal Hill, across the Inner Harbor, of Downtown Baltimore

View from Federal Hill, across the Inner Harbor, of Downtown Baltimore

Flag atop Federal Hill, in the style of 1812

View from Federal Hill, across the Inner Harbor, of Downtown Baltimore

View from Federal Hill, across the Inner Harbor, of Downtown Baltimore

View from Federal Hill, across the Inner Harbor, of Downtown Baltimore

View from Federal Hill, across the Inner Harbor, of Fells Point

Looking westward from Federal Hill, at the Ravens Stadium

Philip stands before the Baltimore skyline

Panorama shot of the skyline from Federal Hill

The park atop Federal Hill

Random street on Federal Hill, with homes from the 1700s

We were at the museum and sculpture garden for half an hour before deciding to head to our final stop:  G & M, for crab cakes.  Yummy!

Façade of the Baltimore Art Museum

Philip poses with an iron rabbit

In the sculpture garden

This ghoulish little number looks like she is conniving

Fountain in the sculpture garden

The pièce de résistance:  G & M crab cake

After our late lunch it was time to head home.  Unlike on the way up, there was no traffic and we made it home in about 45 minutes.

Trip Thoughts

What’s to say?  It was an easy overnight to the West Coast.  I managed upgrades on three of the four legs (Philip swung two).  We enjoyed a nice walk along San Francisco bay, had a gorgeous afternoon in Baltimore, and finished up with some tasty crab cakes.  Oh, and I earned more miles toward that goal of 125,000!